SAN MARCOS -- Cal State LA's baseball team had an emphatic response to getting blanked in Saturday's California Collegiate Athletic Association series opener at Cal State San Marcos.
Did they ever.
The Golden Eagles exploded for 31 runs in the 16 innings of Sunday's doubleheader and swept the Cougars, 10-2 and 21-7 at the CSUSM Baseball Field. Cal State LA (8-7, 4-3 CCAA) set the tone with four runs in the first inning of the opener and then broke open the seven-inning nightcap with a seven-run fourth inning and an eight-run sixth inning.Â
Will Picketts drove in eight runs in the doubleheader, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning of the nightcap.
Johnny Pacheco had three hits in each game and scored five runs while driving in four. Nine different batters drove in runs in and nine scored runs in the opener, while Picketts drive in six runs in the nightcap and Pacheco,
Michael Rosales and
A.J. Salgado drove in three runs each.
Wilem Drozdowski and
Gerardo Castaneda walked four times each in the nightcap, just one shy of the program record of five held by Jay Gibbons set against Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1998. Pacheco had three doubles, one shy of the program record of four set by Daniel Duran against Chico State in 2012.
The Golden Eagles got an outstanding start from
Brent Jacques, who picked up the win in the opener. He went six innings and gave up five hits and two runs to get the win. He turned things over to
Christian Longoria, who pitched three perfect innings for the save, retiring all nine batters he faced.
In the nightcap,
Owen Hunt worked four innings to get the win and then again turned things over to the bullpen, which tossed three scoreless innings to end it.
Mikell Chavez allowed only one hit over two innings and Deandre Carter gave up one hit in a scoreless inning while striking out two.
The Golden Eagles started quickly and got a two-run double from Picketts, a sacrifice fly by
Drew Emmons and a run-scoring single from Tommy Chavez to take a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. After Cal State San Marcos cut it to 4-2, the Golden Eagles got one run in the fifth on a run-scoring single from Salgado and added five runs in the eighth.
Nick Penzetta and
Noe Garcia had run-scoring singles,
Nick Atkins delivered a sacrifice fly, Pacheco hit a run-scoring double and Drozdowski collected a run-scoring single.
In the nightcap, the Golden Eagles trailed 6-3 after three innings, but erupted for seven runs in the fourth to take the lead. Salgado's two-run double made it 6-5 and a two-run double by Picketts gave the Golden Eagles a 7-6 lead. Rosales reached on an error as a run scored to make it 8-6 and a run-scoring single by Penzetta made it 9-6. Rosales made it 10-6 when he scored on a wild pitch.
A Salgado fielder's choice made it 11-6 in the fifth and then the Golden Eagles put the game away with eight runs in the sixth. Rosales scored on a wild pitch and Pacheco drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Salgado reached o an error as another run scored and Picketts had a run-scoring single to make it 15-6 and a three-run double by Rosales made it 18-7. Penzetta drove in the final run of the inning with a single to make it 19-7.
Picketts completed the scoring with a two-run home run in the seventh.
The teams will conclude the series with a single game on Monday beginning at 11 a.m.. Â
